If the sales tax in your city is $11.6\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$138$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
Solution: In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${11.6\%} \times {\$138} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $11.6\%$ is equivalent to $11.6 \div 100$ $11.6 \div 100 = 0.116$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.116$ $\times$ $$138$ = $$16.01$ You would pay $$16.01$ in sales tax.